Snow Creek Estuary Restoration Project

Construction has begun once again! (Come to think of it, it never stopped.) NOSC just completed the construction of a new septic system for the Valley View Motel to replace the field we intend to remove along the shores of Snow Creek in Summer 2016 or 2017. We have been at construction with 3 different contractors on 4 different Discovery Bay  projects for 15 months!

 For over 15 years the North Olympic Salmon Coalition and our partners have been implementing actions in the lower Salmon and Snow Creek watershed in an effort to restore the ecosystem which supports ESA listed Summer Chum Salmon, ESA listed steelhead, coho, and cutthroat trout. This summer we take on the removal of 1465 linear feet of railroad grade between Salmon and Snow Creeks and to the west of Snow Creek. The railroad grade bisects the entire estuary complex and heavily impacts ecosystem processes needed for a healthy estuary. We also take down the sidecast dredge spoils on the banks of Snow Creek that act a levees and disrupt fish migration and ecosystem processes.

This project will restore 22 acres of Salmon and Snow Creek estuary and recreates 1.5 acres of salt marsh that are currently buried beneath the railroad grade. These changes will benefit ESA-listed Hood Canal Summer Chum, coho salmon, birds, and marshlands.

Here are some of the pictures from construction. The first three are a series taken from roughly the same location on the southern shore of Salmon Creek.

Clearing the old RR grade of scotch broom. A few old creosote RR ties were left behind, these are loaded up separate and hauled away to a lined landfill.

RR grade removal begins along the shores of Salmon Creek. The fill is cut down to marsh elevation and loaded into trucks. The RR grade will first be used for temporary haul roads to allow equipment access to other portions of the project before finally being removed and placed on an upland location near the site.

Standing very near the same spot two days later. The RR grade and spur leading to the shores of Salmon Creek are cut to final grade. The surface is expected to recruit natural vegetation in the next couple of years. The surrounding marsh provides ample seed source.

 

After high ground covered in invasive species is removed from the West side of Snow Creek, the area is cut to a low marsh elevation. Here an excavator skates on soft soils to dig the first of many tidal channels that will cross the area.